Vehicle corner module and assembly comprising such module

ABSTRACT

A truck/or vehicle corner module ( 51 ) comprises a knuckle ( 1 ) and a kingpin ( 53 ), which is rotatable with respect to the knuckle ( 1 ), said kingpin ( 53 ) being provided with means for immovable connection ( 55, 58 ) to the fork shaped end ( 34 ) of a vehicle suspension ( 35 ). The kingpin ( 53 ) has opposite ends ( 55 ), which are to bear against and fixed between the facing surfaces ( 56 ) of the teeth ( 32, 33 ) of the fork shaped end ( 34 ).

The invention is related to a vehicle e.g. truck or trailer cornermodule, comprising a knuckle and a kingpin, which is rotatable withrespect to the knuckle, said kingpin being provided with means forimmovable connection to the fork shaped end of a vehicle axle.

Such a vehicle corner is disclosed in DE-A-19820413. Said prior artvehicle corner module comprises a kingpin, which protrudes at both endsthrough the teeth of the fork. The kingpin is preloaded by means of ascrew connection and two sets of belvil washers located near the top endand the bottom end. The sets of belvil washers provide the module with acertain degree of flexibility, which makes it unsuitable for heavilyapplications, such as for trucks or lorries.

The object of the invention is to provide a vehicle corner module of thetype described before, which is better, fit for such heavily loadedapplications, easy to assemble in in-line production and easy tomaintain. This object is achieved in that the kingpin has opposite ends,which are to bear against the facing surfaces of the teeth of the fork.The possibility of a stiff fixation of the module with respect to thevehicle suspension makes the module fit for carrying heavy loads.Preferably, the opposite ends of the kingpin and the respective oppositefork surfaces are of a corresponding shape. Furthermore, said oppositeends of the kingpin may have screwthreaded holes for accommodation of arespective connection screw.

The kingpin is supported with respect to the knuckle by means of rollingelement bearings, preferably with full complement ball or roller sets.The outer ring(s) of the rolling element bearings is (are) supported ona correspondingly shaped bore of the knuckle. Preferably, two rollingelement bearings are provided which have a split outer ring. The outerrings and the bores of the knuckle may have a corresponding steppedshapes, the wider part of said stepped shape being positioned above thenarrower shaped part. In particular, the rolling element bearings may betaper roller bearings in back-to-back arrangement and full complement,but other types of rolling element bearings, such as ball bearings orcombinations, are also possible. The inner raceways of the bearings maybe integrated in the kingpin.

The kingpin may be part of a maintenance free, preloaded, lubricated andsealed for life unit inserted in the kingpin/knuckle housing.

The invention is furthermore related to an assembly comprising a vehiclecorner module as described before and a vehicle suspension with a forkshaped end, the kingpin of said module being fixedly connected to saidfork shaped end. According to the invention, the kingpin has oppositeends, which are clamped between the facing surfaces of the teeth of thefork. Preferably, the teeth of the fork have bolt holes, and theopposite ends of the kingpin have screwthreaded holes, the kingpin beingconnected to the fork shaped end by means of bolts inserted through thebolt holes and screwed into the corresponding screwthreaded holes.

The invention will now be described further with reference to thefigures.

FIG. 1 shows a knuckle for the vehicle corner module according to theinvention in cross section and perspective.

FIG. 2 shows the knuckle in perspective.

FIG. 3 shows the knuckle in the view of FIG. 1, together with a bearingarrangement.

FIG. 4 shows the vehicle corner module according to the invention incross section and in perspective.

FIG. 5 shows the vehicle corner module in perspective.

FIG. 6 shows the step of assembling the vehicle corner module accordingto FIGS. 4 and 5 with the vehicle suspension.

FIG. 7 shows the complete assembly in cross section and in perspective.

FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 show further views of the complete assembly.

The assembly according to FIG. 7 consists of a hub bearing unit 50 and avehicle suspension 35. This truck hub bearing unit 50 in turn consistsof a vehicle corner module 51 having a corner housing or knuckle, whichis provided with a bore 2, in which two taper roller bearings 3, 4 areaccomodated. These taper roller bearings 3, 4 are arranged in “O”configuration.

The taper roller bearings 3, 4 have a common inner ring 13, and twoseparate outer rings 5, 6. Two sets of taper rollers with a cage or fullcomplement 7, respectively 8 are in contact with the raceways of theinner ring 13 and the outer rings 3, respectively 4.

The inner ring means 13 has a radially outwardly protruding flange 9,which has regularly spaced screw threaded holes 10. Onto the flange 9, ahub 11 is mounted by means of screws 14, which are screwed into thescrew threaded holes 10. The hub 11 has a sleeve 12, which overlaps thecorner housing 1, while leaving free a gap 15.

A sensor can be separately mounted or integrated in the kingpinarrangement for controlling/measuring the angular displacement of thecorner knuckle.

The hub has a radially outwardly extending flange 17, which carriesscrew threaded studs 18 onto which a wheel with wheel nuts (not shown)can be mounted. Furthermore, a brake disc 19 is mounted onto the discmounting part 52 of the sleeve 12.

The common inner ring 9 has a bore 20 provided with an internal screwthread 21, and the corner housing has an abutment 22. By screwing ascrew into the screw threaded part 21 and abutting this screw onto theabutment 22, the inner ring 9 together with the complete bearings 3, 4can be dismounted.

Furthermore, the corner housing itself also has a screw threaded bore23. By means of a screw (not shown) which is screwed in the screwthreaded bore 23, and which bears for instance against the outer end ofthe flange 9, the wheel bearings outer ring consisting of 3, 4 can bemounted into the corner housing 1.

Furthermore, the corner housing 1 is provided with a king pin fixingmeans 25, which has a through going bore with stepped portions 26, 27.Into this stepped bore, the outer ring 28 of a similar stepped shape isfitted by means of a spring clip 29. This outer ring 28 forms part ofthe kingpin means 30, which by means of bolts 31 is connected to theteeth 32, 33 of a fork 34, which is integrated with the vehiclesuspension 35.

The outer ring means 28 forms part of the two taper roller 5 bearings36, 37, the raceways of which are integrated in respectively the outerring means 28 and the kingpin 53 itself.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show the corner housing or knuckle 1 in isolation. Thiscorner housing 1 is integrated with a lever arm 40 for engagement with asteering rod of the vehicle's steering system (not shown), as well asears 41, 42, for mounting a brake calliper which can engage the brakedisc 19. Furthermore, an encoder sensor for ABS/wheel bearing speed maybe integrated in the corner housing 1.

According to another preferred execution the knuckle can be splitdividing the knuckle in a kingpin/wheel bearing part and a fixation partto carry the brake calliper and steering fixations.

FIG. 3 shows the corner housing according to FIGS. 1 and 2 together withthe wheel taper roller bearing 3, 4 in “O” configuration or in back toback arrangement FIG. 4 shows the complete vehicle corner module 51,comprising a corner housing 1 for separate bearings and the kingpinmeans 30.

FIG. 5 shows the complete vehicle corner module 51 in perspective.

The kingpin 53 has flat end faces 55, which, as shown in FIG. 6, come tobear against the facing surfaces 56 of the teeth 32, 33 of the fork 35of the vehicle axle 34. The teeth 32, 33 have holes 57, and the oppositeends of the kingpin 53 have screwthreaded bores 58. By means of bolts 59the teeth 32, 33 are clamped firmly onto the surfaces 55 of the kingpin53.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the truck wheel hub bearing unit 50 may beangular displaced over a fairly large angle. The front view of FIG. 10shows the complete truck hub bearing unit including a brake disc brake19 and axle 34.

The rolling element bearings 36, 37 can be preloaded, or can be providedwith a certain play. The split outer rings 28 of the rolling elementbearings 36, 37 can have different outer diameters in view of loadtransfer. The rolling element bearings 36, 37 can also comprise fullcomplement roller sets.

The kingpin 53 can furthermore form part of a maintenance free,preloaded, lubricated and sealed for life unit. Moreover, a separatelyintegrated sensor for controlling angular displacements can beincorporated. The corner knuckle can be made of metallic andnon-metallic composite materials. In the alternative, forging or castiron can be possible. The lubricant can be grease or liquid, e.g.traction oil. Alternatively, the kingpin bearing can also consist ofseparate bearings, which are preloaded on a separate central kingpinshaft.

1. Truck/or vehicle corner module, comprising a knuckled and a kingpin,which is rotatable with respect to the knuckle, said kingpin beingprovided with means for immovable connection to the fork shaped end of avehicle suspension, characterized in that the kingpins has opposite endswhich are to bear against and fixed between the facing surfaces of theteeth of the fork shaped end.
 2. Module according to claim 1, whereinthe opposite ends of the kingpin and the respective opposite forksurfaces are of a corresponding shape.
 3. Module according to claim 1,wherein the opposite ends of the kingpin have screwthreaded bores foraccommodation of a respective connection screwy.
 4. Module according toclaim 1, wherein the kingpin is supported with respect to the knuckle bymeans of rolling element bearings.
 5. Module according to claim 4,wherein the outer ring(s) of the rolling element bearings is (are)supported on a correspondingly shaped bore of the knuckle.
 6. Moduleaccording to claim 5, wherein two rolling elements bearings areprovided, which have a split outer ring or a common outer ring. 7.Module according to claim 6, wherein the outer ring and the bore of theknuckle have a corresponding stepped shape, the wider part of saidstepped shape being positioned above the narrower shaped part.
 8. Moduleaccording to claim 6, wherein the rolling element bearings are taperroller bearings in back-to-back arrangement or “O” arrangement. Rollingbearings have full complement roller sets.
 9. Module according to claim6, wherein the inner raceways of the bearings are integrated in thekingpin.
 10. Assembly comprising a modules according to claim 1 and avehicle suspensions with a fork shaped end, the kingpin of said modulebeing fixedly connected to said fork shaped end, characterised in thatthe kingpin has opposite ends, which are clamped between the facingsurfaces of the teeth of the fork shaped end.
 11. Assembly according toclaim 10, wherein the teeth of the fork shaped end have bolt holes, andthe opposite ends of the kingpin have screwthreaded bores, the kingpinsbeing connected to the fork shaped end by means of bolts insertedthrough the bolt holes and screwed into the corresponding screwthreadedholes.